Deadline looms for owners of quake prone buildings

Saturday, 11 November 2023

Iko Iko owners Stephen Jessup and Thomasin Bollinger have had help from the council to assess and design seismic work on their heritage building, but they still face an unknown cost to get the work done.

Hundreds of earthquake prone buildings are rolling towards seismic strengthening deadlines in Wellington, with one councillor warning it is the biggest risk facing the city.

Iko Iko owners Thomasin Bollinger and Stephen Jessup own a 1902 heritage building on Cuba St which houses their business. When they bought it in the mid-1990s it had been strengthened and was up to code.

Subsequent stricter government regulation following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes meant the building required more strengthening.

The building’s remediation deadline is in 2027, the same year as more than 200 other Wellington buildings.

“We hope that we can have it done by then - if we can afford it,” Bollinger said.

“We’re in our 60s so it’s pretty scary to be taking on a loan to get this done.

“It’s tough for a little business to find a million bucks for a building that we can’t do without.”

She said there was also the uncertainty about regulations changing again.

“We’ve been through a lot of earthquakes and we haven’t had any damage so our building feels strong and safe - more so than some of those modern buildings on the waterfront that collapsed.”

The couple have had guidance and grants from the council to get seismic assessments and remediation plans done.

“The council has been pretty helpful for us, because we’ve got a heritage listed building.”

Jessup said they had received around $35,000 for seismic assessment and engineering plans.

Wellington City councillor Iona Pannett warns that the number of earthquake buildings facing their remediation deadline represents an unacceptable risk to the city.

“They have been helpful to press go on it in that way.”

Wellington City councillor Iona Pannett said many buildings were likely to miss their deadlines, and council should ask central government for extensions.

Wellington City Council data shows a dramatic spike in the number of buildings due to be earthquake strengthened is coming up in 2027.

“It’s an enormous problem and I would say that it is the biggest direct threat to the city at the moment because you’ve got 250 buildings, most in the CBD, that will have to be strengthened and simply will not be,” she said.

“Every year edges us closer to some level of crisis. There’s no way people are being able to get strengthened … the consequences are now happening.”

Pannett said extending deadlines was not ideal because costs were only going to increase, but the Government needed to give councils and building owners more time to sort out funding and seismic engineering capacity constraints.

“The Government and Parliament need to take the foot off the necks of owners.

“Apparently it wouldn’t be too difficult to get a bill through to get an extension of two to five years.”

Council’s data showed a big spike in the earthquake strengthening deadlines set to expire in 2027.

As of last week there were 571 earthquake prone buildings within Wellington City.

‘Stickers and deadlines aren’t working’

Ian Cassels says new ways are needed to help building owners meet their seismic strengthening obligations.

Prominent building owner Ian Cassels of The Wellington Company said the current system wasn’t working and there needed to be new mechanisms for making sure buildings were seismically strengthened.

Cassels said deadlines being extended over the years meant the problem was just being pushed out.

He suggested council introduce rating penalties for buildings that missed their deadline, but he also said alternative funding mechanisms could be explored, such as councils buying the land underneath the building to fund strengthening.

Cassels said councils should use a “ratchet system” to incrementally put more pressure on building owners to resolve the seismic issues each year leading up to expiry dates and enforce the deadlines “or the sticker date is meaningless”.

“I know it’s a bit of a farce. Whacking stickers on things is not strengthening.

“They turn into meaningless because there’s no way the council can assist all of those people to get those things to fruition.”

“There should be rates increases on underperforming buildings, and there should be a system of bringing about the capacity to make those buildings be strengthened with a reasonable amount of time.”

Cassels said in the past he has suggested funding seismic works by purchasing the underlying land from the owners.

“The biggest champion of the city [the council] with resource should be prepared to buy the ground under buildings for the purpose of strengthening, and that should come with Government assistance.”

The council was reportedly considering a deal with Reading International to buy the land underneath the Courtenay Place cinema complex to fund its remediation.

Consequences

If the strengthening work is not done by the deadline, councils can require safety measures such as a hoarding or fence to stop people from approaching the building.

The council can also take legal action for a conviction and fine not exceeding $200,000, or it can take possession of the building and complete the work itself.